Groysman, who became Ukraine’s first Jewish prime minister earlier this year, was scheduled to arrive in Israel on Tuesday for a two-day visit that would have included meetings with Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and other top officials.

Without explicitly mentioning Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and a civil war in the country’s east with Russian-backed separatists, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it “experienced itself the tragic consequences brought by” the violation of international law, effectively drawing a parallel between Israeli building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Russian policies.

“That’s why our position was formed on the basis of our consistent line to ensure the respect for the international law by all its subjects,” the statement read.

The Security Council resolution, which was passed by a 14-0 vote on Friday, with only the United States abstaining, calls on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem,” while also expressing its “grave concern that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution.”

Since the measure was passed, Israel has taken a number of retaliatory steps against the countries that supported its passage, including an official dressing-down of the Security Council members’ ambassadors to Israel on Sunday.

In its statement defending Ukraine’s vote in favor of the measure in light of the Israeli backlash, the Foreign Ministry in Kiev described the resolution as “balanced,” and said its “yes” vote should not affect ties.

“We are confident that active and emotional internal debates in Israel will not impact traditionally friendly Ukrainian-Israeli relationship, based on mutual respect and joint interests,” the statement read.

Following the removal from office of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 as a result of protests against his government and its policies, unmarked Russian troops invaded and occupied the Crimean Peninsula, which was was annexed to Russia after a hasty and internationally unrecognized referendum in March 2014.

Beginning in 2014, Russia has also sent troops and sponsored paramilitaries to occupy parts of eastern Ukraine and has backed the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.

]]>http://www.ucsj.org/2017/01/12/kiev-summons-israeli-envoy-to-protest-cancellation-of-its-pms-visit/feed/0Ukraine: Russia faces ‘growing isolation’ says Cameronhttp://www.ucsj.org/2014/03/27/ukraine-russia-faces-growing-isolation-says-cameron/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ukraine-russia-faces-growing-isolation-says-cameron
http://www.ucsj.org/2014/03/27/ukraine-russia-faces-growing-isolation-says-cameron/#respondThu, 27 Mar 2014 20:30:58 +0000http://www.ucsj.org/?p=2418http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-26729260 The decision to axe the G8 summit shows Russia faces “growing political isolation”, David Cameron has said. The UK prime minister said world leaders were sending the “clearest possible” message that Moscow’s actions in annexing Crimea were unacceptable. The US and UK have said the G8 will be “hard to revive” in the […]

The decision to axe the G8 summit shows Russia faces “growing political isolation”, David Cameron has said.

The UK prime minister said world leaders were sending the “clearest possible” message that Moscow’s actions in annexing Crimea were unacceptable.

The US and UK have said the G8 will be “hard to revive” in the near future.

Moscow has made light of the decision to cancel June’s gathering in Sochi, suggesting the G8 is an “informal club” and members cannot be thrown out.

World leaders are discussing what further action to take against Moscow as they attend a summit on international nuclear co-operation in The Hague.

On Monday, the US, UK, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Canada said they would meet in Brussels in June as the G7, instead of in Sochi, and Russia would not be invited.

Co-operation

Speaking after meeting UN general secretary Ban Ki-moon, Mr Cameron said any attempts by Moscow to further destabilise Ukraine would lead to significant further sanctions.

“What we have seen at this G7 meeting last night is just a growing sense that if Russia continues to behave like this it will face growing political and diplomatic isolation,” he said.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was hard to envisage co-operation with Russia within the auspices of the G8 under current circumstances.

“It’s of course a huge blow to the G8,” he said. “It means there is no G8 this year.

“The president of the United States was very clear in the meeting that it will then be hard to revive that in the immediate future.”

“It would need our values to be clear, our shared values to be clear again and clearly those shared values are not shared by Russia in violating the independence and territorial integrity of a neighbouring nation state.”

‘Leverage’

The US and EU have imposed travel bans and asset freezes on pro-Russian officials in Crimea and supporters of President Putin after Russia took control of the peninsula.

Mr Hague acknowledged that tougher sanctions, which have been threatened if Russia takes further action to destabilise Ukraine, would have financial repercussions for countries with trade links with Russia but “we have to be prepared to do that”.

“Every country would have to do what is necessary if more far-reaching sanctions were applied, accepting that that would affect different economies in different ways.

“The UK is certainly prepared to do that. There is nothing that other countries in Europe have proposed that we have blocked. The UK is fully prepared to play its full part.”

BBC correspondent Anna Holligan said Mr Hague was keen to stress the economic “leverage” that the EU had with Russia, particularly over energy supplies.

]]>http://www.ucsj.org/2014/03/27/ukraine-russia-faces-growing-isolation-says-cameron/feed/0Ban Ki-moon condemns persecution of gay people in Russiahttp://www.ucsj.org/2014/02/07/ban-ki-moon-condemns-persecution-of-gay-people-in-russia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ban-ki-moon-condemns-persecution-of-gay-people-in-russia
http://www.ucsj.org/2014/02/07/ban-ki-moon-condemns-persecution-of-gay-people-in-russia/#respondFri, 07 Feb 2014 16:01:58 +0000http://www.ucsj.org/?p=2191The United Nations secretary-general has used a speech ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi to condemn attacks on the LGBT community, amid growing criticism of Russia’s so-called “gay propaganda” laws. Ban Ki-moon, addressing the IOC before Friday’s opening ceremony, highlighted the fact that the theme of the UN’s human rights day last December was “sport comes out against homophobia”. […]

]]>The United Nations secretary-general has used a speech ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi to condemn attacks on the LGBT community, amid growing criticism of Russia’s so-called “gay propaganda” laws.

Ban Ki-moon, addressing the IOC before Friday’s opening ceremony, highlighted the fact that the theme of the UN’s human rights day last December was “sport comes out against homophobia”.

“Many professional athletes, gay and straight, are speaking out against prejudice. We must all raise our voices against attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people,” he said. “We must oppose the arrests, imprisonments and discriminatory restrictions they face.”

“The United Nations stands strongly behind our own ‘free and equal’ campaign, and I look forward to working with the IOC, governments and other partners around the world to build societies of equality and tolerance. Hatred of any kind must have no place in the 21st century.”

It emerged last week that more than 50 current and former Olympians have called on the IOC to uphold principle six of its charter, which forbids discrimination of any kind, and this week more than 200 writers added their voice to the protest against the new laws in a letter to the Guardian.

Ban did not refer specifically to Russia’s new laws, which ban the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relations to under-18s, but his words carry strong symbolic weight.

Speaking to reporters after his address, Ban, who is due to carry the Olympic torch and meet Putin in Sochi on Thursday, added: “I know there has been some controversy over this issue. At the same time I appreciate the assurances of President Putin that there will be no discrimination and that people with different sexual orientation are welcome to compete and enjoy this Olympic Games.”

Asked about the new laws, the Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak insisted that there was no discrimination against anyone based on their “religion or their sexuality or their nationality”. He said the new laws were to protect children.

“We are all grown up and every adult has his or her right to understand their sexual activity. Please, do not touch kids. That’s the only thing. That’s prohibited by law in all countries whether you are gay or straight.”

Kozak also appeared to highlight an apparent inconsistency between the IOC and the Russian organisers over the issue. The IOC president, Thomas Bach, has said athletes should not protest against the issue on the medal podium but are free to speak out in press conferences.

But Kozak said: “Political propaganda is prohibited during the sporting event. It is prohibited by the Olympic charter not by Russian law.”

He also referred to renewed security concerns sparked by reports that US homeland security sources had warned that terrorists might try to smuggle explosives aboard flights bound for Sochi in toothpaste tubes.

The department said later in a statement that it was not aware of any specific threat.

Kozak said the security threat in Sochi, which is protected by a “ring of steel” of 40,000 troops, police and security personnel, was no more serious than any major American city.

“I’m sure the security risk in Sochi is no more than in New York, Washington or Boston,” he said, adding that the Russian security services were working with colleagues in the US and western Europe.

In December, suicide bombers killed 34 people in the Russian city of Volgograd, 400 miles north-east of Sochi. The attacks raised fears of further attacks during the Games.

A poll published by the Levada Centre, an independent Russian research organisation, this week found that 53% of those surveyed thought Russia was right to host the Olympics, 26% said the country should not have tried to do so and 21% were undecided. When asked what they saw as the main reason behind authorities’ desire to hold the games, 38% said it was “opportunity for graft” and only 23% said it was important for national pride and to serve for the development of sport.

About half of respondents put the record price tag of the Sochi games down to corruption.

When asked about the survey during the press conference, Kozak said there was no evidence of “any large-scale corruption or theft” during the run-up to the Games, and that to say otherwise would “violate the democratic principle of presumption of innocence”.

]]>http://www.ucsj.org/2014/02/07/ban-ki-moon-condemns-persecution-of-gay-people-in-russia/feed/0IRF Roundtable Letter on Declining Religious Freedom Conditions in Kazakhstanhttp://www.ucsj.org/2012/12/13/irf-roundtable-letter-on-declining-religious-freedom-in-kazakhstan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=irf-roundtable-letter-on-declining-religious-freedom-in-kazakhstan
http://www.ucsj.org/2012/12/13/irf-roundtable-letter-on-declining-religious-freedom-in-kazakhstan/#respondThu, 13 Dec 2012 18:51:30 +0000http://www.ucsj.org/?p=1202UCSJ, along with other members of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable, sent a letter to the UN regarding our concern for declining religious freedom conditions in Kazakhstan. Click the above link to view it, or read an excerpt below: Prof. Dr. Heiner Bielefeldt Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Office of the […]

Prof. Dr. Heiner Bielefeldt
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Dear Mr. Rapporteur,
We write as an informal group of organizations and individuals who are scholars, religious leaders, human rights advocates and practitioners to express our deep concern about rising restrictions on religion in the Republic of Kazakhstan. According to the 2012 Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, “Conditions for religious freedom declined sharply in Kazakhstan during the reporting period.”

We urge you to visit Kazakhstan at the earliest possible opportunity, perform a review of the situation, identify existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief, and present recommendations on ways and means to overcome these obstacles.

Your visit would be consistent with recommendations that were made to Kazakhstan in 2010 as part of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). In fact, Kazakhstan accepted the recommendation “To reach out to the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief to arrange a visit at the earliest possible opportunity (United States of America).”

At the same time, Kazakhstan rejected the recommendation “To abolish requirements for the registration of religious groups from the existing Administrative Code, in accordance with the laws adopted in 2005 on the elimination of extremism and the strengthening national security, and to review the provisions of the Law on Freedom of Religion and Religious Associations in order to effectively guarantee freedom of belief and a non-discriminatory legal system for the registration of religious entities (Mexico).”

Further, Kazakhstan rejected the recommendation “To consider the rules for the registration of religious groups, and to take steps to promote interfaith harmony, including with regard to those faiths considered to be non-traditional in the country, in order to adhere to the Constitution and to international norms (Norway).”

Finally, the subsequent rising restrictions on religion are the result of two new laws that were enacted without debate and signed by President Nazarbaev in October 2011 – a new Religion Law and an Administrative Code Law that amends nine other laws and legal provisions related to religious activity and religious associations.